No matter how hard she tries, she felt she was an irresponsible mother.

Forty two-year-old Analiza Mancio, a resident of Brgy. Maguiting in San Narciso, Quezon Province, no longer have time for her children.

“Sa sobrang hirap ng buhay, di ko na nabibigyang pansin ang mga anak ko dahil tutok ako sa pagtatrabaho. Kahit ang pag-aaral nila, hindi na talaga matutukan,” said Analiza.

With six children, Analiza admits that she focuses on helping her husband, who is a fisherman and a tricycle driver, in ensuring there is food on the table. She vends fresh and dried fish in their neighborhood and in nearby barangays despite the heat or the muddy road.

Though she feels irresponsible for neglecting her children’s needs, she knows that she is still doing her job as a mother—which is to find ways to make their lives more comfortable.

Today, she can never be prouder and contented seeing that finally, her children’s needs are taken care of.

 

Countless blessings

Analiza admits that life was hard for their family.

“Sobrang hirap talaga ng buhay kaya isa o dalawang beses lang kami kung kumain sa isang araw,” she said as she recalls how her children were always sickly.

Gratefully, Analiza’s family became a beneficiary of several programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which helped her family improve their lives little by little.

In 2008, they became a beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program where three of her children’s needs for education and health were supported.

“Naging mas maalwan ang buhay para sa amin. ‘Yung pag-aaral nila ay talagang natutukan namin,” she shared.

She added that since they no longer have to worry about her children’s expenses in school, they were able to allot money for their daily needs, especially their meals.

“Naging mas masigla na ang mga bata dahil nakakakain na kami ng tatlong beses isang araw. Naging mas masigla na rin sila sa pag-aaral,” she said.

Their other savings allowed Analiza to start expanding her small dried fish business. However, she shared that there were times she had to stop the production because she often would use the capital to support their other needs. So when she qualified for the capital assistance provided by the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), she immediately took the opportunity.

With the capital assistance she loaned in 2013, she was able to have a fixed capital to make her dried fish business running continuously. She even learned from the trainings conducted under the program in managing her business better, especially in maintaining her capital.

 

Giving back

Analiza can never be more thankful not just because of the opportunities provided by these programs to her family. More than anything else, these programs make her feel as a more responsible mother.

“Ang tanging hiling ko lang ay mapabuti ang buhay ng mga anak ko kaya talagang nagsusumikap ako para masuportahan ang pag-aaral nila,” she shared.

Without these programs, Analiza cannot imagine sending her six children to school all at the same time without having to struggle too much. With these programs giving her so much, she ought to give back the best way she can.

So when the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan—Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) came in their barangay, she did not hesitate to volunteer for their project, which is the concreting of their pathway.

“Natutunan ko sa Pantawid ang importansya ng pakikilahok sa mga gawain sa komunidad at natutunan ko naman sa SLP ang tamang pagrerekord para sa negosyo kaya naman nagvolunteer ako bilang bookkeeper. Ito ang aking paraan para magbalik rin ng kaunting tulong kumpara sa napakaraming tulong na dumating sa aming pamilya,” Analiza said.

With the help she is providing for this project, she knows that she can be of help to the rest of the community especially in making their lives more convenient.

For Analiza, the greatest gift these programs provided to her is not their improved living condition but the education of her children. Seeing them one by one at least getting a high school diploma is priceless and makes her confident that she is a responsible mother.***